Field
The present invention relates to a nitrogen-containing carbon material and a manufacturing method thereof, and more specifically, the present invention relates to a nitrogen-containing carbon material prepared by allowing a nitrogen atom to be contained in a carbon material having a carbon skeleton formed of carbon atoms such as a carbon nanotube, and a manufacturing method thereof.
Description of the Related Art
Single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) are hollow cylindrical substances composed only of sp2 hybridized carbon atoms and are expected to be applied to various energy devices and electronic devices because of their high conductivity and excellent carrier transport characteristics. Of these, carbon nanotubes containing nitrogen atoms have attracted great interest in recent years because they exert excellent characteristics for field emission characteristics, gas storage characteristics, electron transfer characteristics, and the like. For example, Kuanping Gonng, et al. reports the utilization thereof for an air electrode of a fuel cell (Science Vol. 323 (2009), 760-764).
Examples of a method of manufacturing a carbon nanotube containing nitrogen atoms include a chemical vapor deposition method (CVD method). However, since this method provides a low introduction ratio of the nitrogen atoms and greatly depends on the kind of raw material and the synthesis conditions such as the catalyst, the reaction temperature, and the gas flow rate, there remains the issue of how to enhance the introduction ratio.
Examples of the method also include a method of introducing nitrogen atoms into a previously produced carbon nanotube. Examples of such a method include a method disclosed in JP 2012-6817 A, which teaches a carbon nanotube subjected to an oxidizing treatment in a vapor phase, after which the carbon nanotube is further subjected to a nitriding treatment in a vapor phase, so that a nitrogen-containing carbon nanotube can be produced.
However, when this method is employed, by subjecting a carbon nanotube to an oxidizing treatment, there are problems that the carbon nanotube is damaged, is decomposed or the like, and structural defects occur.